Maud's Line (16 page)

Before he got to the steps, Maud said, “Where have you been?”

“Visiting Aunt Nan, then over to Blue's allotment.”

“Why did you leave out in the rain?”

Lovely stepped up to the porch. “Any biscuits left?”

“They're all eaten. You didn't answer my question.”

“Sorry. My stomach got me. My days and nights are mixed up. I couldn't sleep. The rain seemed inviting.”

“Are you an idiot? You didn't even take your rifle. You could get killed stepping on a snake.”

“I took a stick. And this.” He pulled his pistol from the back of his belt. “Could I have some biscuits or are you Judge Parker?”

Maud went in the door without saying another word, pulled out the biscuit bowl, and starting mixing flour and lard into dough. But she kept her ear cocked, and she heard Booker tell Lovely that the doctor and the sheriff were at the Mounts' and that somebody down there was dead. She crept closer to the door of the main room and listened harder. Lovely didn't seemed surprised. She hoped that was only because he had every right to hate the Mounts. She turned back to the kitchen; stirred the ashes from the morning fire; stuck some paper and two more sticks of wood into the stove; and as the fire got going, tiptoed to the door again. They were talking about how Lovely felt. He thought his fever was gone, and he didn't want to take any more shots. The first one still hurt.

Lovely had finished eating, and they all were back out on the porch again when the sheriff and the doctor returned. They sat in the car for a long time. When their doors finally opened, the doctor walked toward his car and the sheriff wiped his boots on his runner. He walked toward the porch, stopped, and rested his hand on the butt of his gun. “Mr. Wakefield, we were in such a hurry I didn't tell you that you're no longer under suspicion. The fire was accidently set by boys smoking. You're free to go, or stay, if you wish. As for the business down there in the wild, that's another bucket of fish. The doctor and I suspect it's murder. He says it's two individuals. Not much doubt it's the Mounts. But I'll check with their town kin before I draw a line under that. Do any of you know anything about any of this?”

Maud said, “We're not close neighbors.”

The sheriff rubbed his hand over his mouth and then put it back on his gun. “I understand there's been some meanness.”

Maud said, “The Mounts could have easily killed each other.”

“Normally, I'd agree with you there, miss. But they didn't kill each other and leave a quilt burnt in their still.”

Maud felt the color in her face rise all the way to her hair. She gripped the post she was standing near. Booker looked to her and back to the sheriff. Lovely said, “What are you saying?”

“I'm saying we found a couple of burnt pieces of quilt in the still's pot. I'm guessing whoever killed the Mounts tried to burn a quilt for some reason. Then the fire got dampened by the rain somehow.” The sheriff scratched his head.

The doctor walked by the sheriff, carrying his bag. “I need to give Lovely his shot.” He stopped on the bottom step.

The sheriff said to the others, “Where's Mustard?”

Maud said, “At work, I guess.”

“Did you see him this morning?”

Maud gripped the post until she felt her hand cramp. She let go of the wood, bit her lip, and ducked her head, trying to look a little embarrassed. “He laid out last night. I think he's sparking.”

“Who's he sparking?”

“I haven't asked.”

“I see. So you have no idea?”

“You know Daddy, sheriff. He doesn't take to his kids meddling in his business.”

“But you feel sure he was sparking last night?”

“I didn't say that. I said I thought he probably was. I was here. I can't see into the distance.”

The sheriff drew a pad out of his shirt pocket and a pencil from behind his ear. He scribbled and then looked at the tip of his pencil. He looked at Booker. “Mr. Wakefield, you still working for Connell Singer?”

“Yes. I came down here to help Dr. Ragsdale by dropping off a horse. But I better be getting back.” He looked to Maud. But she turned her eyes to the sheriff. In a defiant tone, she said, “Sheriff, there're plenty of people who would kill the Mounts. Whiskey and killing go together like ice cream and cake.”

Booker's brow furrowed.

The sheriff said, “Mr. Wakefield, you can go on.”

“Maybe I should stay.”

“Look, you just got on my good side. Let's leave it that way. Doc, you go on and give this boy his shot. Then I want to sit down with these folks and get some answers.” He turned and walked toward his car.

Booker looked at Maud. But she looked at Lovely. “Mind yourself,” she said softly.

Booker's eyes cut to each of their faces. “What do you mean by that?”

The doctor moved to the porch. “Lovely, let's go inside and let you lie down on the bed.”

Maud said to Booker, “Lovely hasn't been in his right head. I don't want him saying anything that could get someone hung.”

“Do they still hang people around here?” Booker's right eyebrow went high.

“It's a saying. Lovely, do you hear me?” He was going through the door the doctor held open.

Booker looked two or three different ways. Then he said, “Maud, do you want me to stay?” His mouth was close to her face. His hand on her arm.

Maud looked up at him. “You'd better go.”

He dropped his hand and took a step back. He squinted. “Okay, if you want to be that way, I will. But I have to say, Maud, this feels a little fishy. Your menfolk keep disappearing, and then these Mount people are dead. And now you're telling Lovely to keep his mouth shut.”

“What are you suggesting?” She looked toward the sheriff to be sure he couldn't hear her.

Booker rubbed the back of his neck. “I don't know, Maud. But I'm a Methodist. I'm not real big on killing.”

“I'm not big on killing, either, Booker. But we don't even know for sure who's dead. And if it is the Mounts, they're moonshiners. Moonshiners get killed all the time. Surely that's not any different over in Arkansas.”

“No, it's not.” Booker ran his hand over his mouth. “But what about your daddy and Lovely disappearing?”

The sheriff had just shut his car door. Maud lowered her voice even more. “Look, Booker, you just heard me explain that to the sheriff. I don't know what else to say.” She widened her eyes to emphasize her innocence.

“Okay, I guess. You're sure you don't need me to stay?”

Maud was sure she didn't want Booker hearing any questions or answers. But she also didn't want him to go, and he was so close that she felt the tug of his smell. “I'll come to you.”

“You promise?”

“Of course I will.”

By that time, the sheriff was coming back with a couple of pencils in his hand. Booker said, “Let me know if there's anything I can do,” to nobody in particular.

The sheriff stopped at the steps and let Booker pass. He put one pencil behind his ear and held the other one over his pad. “Miss Nail, is it still?”

“Yes.”

“Do you care to come down here?”

“I don't care one way or the other.”

“Then why don't you come out here in the yard with me. Let's go over to the pump.” He turned and walked away.

Maud looked toward Booker. He was headed toward his horse. She hesitated momentarily and then stepped down. Booker turned when he got to the hitching rail. “Tell Lovely he can have Arlene as long as he needs her.”

“Thank you.”

Booker cocked his head and stood still. Then he put his hat on and mounted.

Maud turned her eyes from him. She walked to the pump, stopping short of it by a couple of feet. She said to the sheriff, “What do you want to know?”

“I want to know who killed the Mounts.”

“I understand that. But I have no idea. There's no crime in being somebody's neighbor.”

“No. But I also understand John Mount left a dog on your table. That's why your brother's in there taking a shot in his stomach. It may be why he's gone off in his head.”

“He's gone off in his head because he's been poorly. He's been drinking water.”

“Have you seen him drink water?”

Maud paused. “No, not really. But he walked out in the rain last night. Nobody with rabies would do that.”

The sheriff made a note. “Where'd he go?”

Maud felt like she'd made a misstep. The sheriff didn't know when the Mounts had died. He might think it had been in the middle of the night. But she couldn't take her words back. “Told me he went to Aunt Nan's. I stayed here.”

“What time did he go?”

“Sheriff, you know people don't tell time in the middle of the night. It was raining. We'd been in bed a while.”

“And he walked right out into the rain?” The sheriff had a blank look on his face.

“I wouldn't say that. I thought he'd gone to take a leak. He could've been on the porch until the rain slacked for all I know.”

“You didn't get up to check where he was?”

Maud wanted to cover for Lovely, but she didn't want to give away how long the Mounts had been dead. She was trying to figure out what her brother and Aunt Viola would say when they were questioned. She said slowly, “I did. Eventually. By that time, he'd gone. But I couldn't say when it was. Wouldn't want to. I might be wrong.”

“So you went back to bed?”

“Yes.”

“Who else was here?”

“My aunt Viola.”

“She's living with your grandpa, I believe.”

“For now.”

“They're right up the road?”

“Yes, north of this house beyond the swale.”

“Was her husband with her?”

“No.”

“Did they have a fight?”

“No fight. She came to doctor Lovely.”

“And how did that go?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, what was her diagnosis?”

“She didn't diagnose him. She just sat and talked.”

“I thought she came to doctor?”

“She did.”

“Well?” The sheriff looked up from his scribbling.

“Look, Sheriff, you surely don't believe my elderly aunt has anything to do with the Mounts and what may have, or may not have, happened to them. What's the point you're trying to make?”

“Miss Nail, I'm just trying to figure out where everybody was between the time the doctor last saw John Mount in town on Saturday afternoon and the time he and I found the . . . what we found.”

Maud had decided it'd be best to hear what he'd found to cover anything she might reveal without having a source to attribute it to. “And what was that?”

“It's not fit for a woman to hear.”

“That may be. But I'd like to know what my menfolk are being accused of.”

“I haven't accused anybody yet.”

Maud didn't know what to say next. She looked over at a toad by the trough. The sheriff looked off toward the river. “Do you happen to know where your grandpa and uncle were last night?”

“Not with me. Aunt Viola and I went visiting our other kin. And then we came down here. She would've walked back, except the rain came up.”

“She would have walked in the dark?”

“She's a fullblood.”

“I see.” The sheriff paused. He put his pencil point to his pad and stuck his tongue out between his teeth. He eventually spoke. “So, you and your aunt were here asleep, sort of. Your brother was out walking around in the night. Your pa is . . . we don't know where. And your grandpa and . . . his brother . . . were at your grandpa's house?”

“I can't really speak for them. You'll have to ask them,” Maud said quickly.

“And did your brother take a gun when he went for his midnight walk?”

“He took a pistol.”

“So he left out knowing he was going somewhere he'd need a pistol?”

“You need a pistol to go to the outhouse around here.”

“And that would be why?”

“Because of the cottonmouths.”

“They're that thick?”

“They crawl back and forth between the river and the lakes all the time. Is there anything else you want to know? The Mounts weren't snakebit to death, were they?”

“Hard to say. But if I had to guess, I'd say they were shot.”

“You couldn't tell if they were shot or not?”

“No. There wasn't anything much left. Except pieces of head.”

“So how do you know it was them?”

“Bones are in their hog lot. They're not around.”

“I see.” Maud put her arm around the pump.

The sheriff questioned Lovely, too. When that was finished, he and Dr. Ragsdale left. Lovely came out on the porch and reported to Maud how he'd answered: He'd thought he'd heard a woman calling him. He went out to find her, but nobody was on the porch. He came back in and got his pistol because he was scared. Then he heard the woman again. He thought maybe it was somebody he knew. Maud interrupted. “Who?”

“Grandma, actually. But I didn't tell the sheriff that. He probably knows she's dead.”

“Whatchya do after that?”

“Walked farther up the line. Took shelter with Nan and Ryde, just like I told you. Ate breakfast there. Then walked over to Blue's allotment and home.”

“Did you tell him that?”

“Yep. And I told him I slept all night here the night before.”

“That's not true.”

“Sure it is.”

“You were gone when I got up.”

“That doesn't mean I wasn't asleep in the night.”

Maud was disturbed by Lovely's story and she didn't know what the sheriff would make of it. But she didn't really think her father took Lovely with him to kill the Mounts. Lovely wouldn't have been much help. If he'd taken anybody, it would've been Ryde. She still didn't know about that. She looked to the sun. It was a crimson ball of fire in the west.